To four-year-old Caillou, everything is new and exciting, and the Christmas season brings even more fun adventures, from making snow angels to discovering where Christmas cards go when they're mailed. Caillou's Holiday Movie is the first feature-length adventure with the cheerful protagonist of the Canadian children's television program. Caillou's Holiday Movie gets a big "thumbs up" as a great film for young kids and their parents. The movie is clearly aimed at viewers around Caillou's age, but the film is so full of charm and infectious cheer that parents will enjoy watching it with their kids.

One of things that will make Caillou's Holiday Movie appealing to younger viewers is that Caillou is a realistic four-year-old, whose experiences and feelings are easy to relate to. When you're only four years old, everything is new and exciting, whether it's going to the Post Office to mail a Christmas card, or playing in the snow outside. Caillou's Holiday Movie captures that very well. Caillou does have some "difficult" moments, like when he has the idea to play in the snow before breakfast, and is disappointed when his parents tell him that he has to wait; for a four-year-old, a few minutes can seem like an eternity. Another very true-to-life moment is when Caillou and his mom bring some old toys to the fire station to be donated. When one of the firefighters repairs Caillou's broken toy truck, Caillou suddenly doesn't want to give it up any more.

While viewers of Caillou's age will identify with Caillou's feelings, parents will be pleased to see how the movie handles them. Gently woven into the movie is the idea that Caillou is learning to respect others, share, and behave kindly. For instance, in the scene with Caillou and his truck, his mom gently reminds him that his toy will make another little boy or girl very happy, and Caillou gives it up with good grace, even helping to put the bow on the package.

In fact, all of Caillou's Holiday Movie is imbued with positive messages. One of the most important is the idea that learning new things is fun and exciting: Caillou eagerly anticipates hearing about Christmas in other countries, and learns how to say "Merry Christmas" in Spanish. He also practices counting, helps with making Christmas cookies, and learns about how a post office works.

Caillou's Holiday Movie is a Canadian production, and the original soundtrack is in French. This DVD has English as the default, with the original French also included. This makes Caillou's Holiday Movie an excellent learning tool for beginner to intermediate students of French: the vocabulary and grammar is simple, and the voice actors speak very clearly.

The DVD

Video

Caillou's Holiday Movie is presented in its original television aspect ratio of 1.33:1. The image quality is excellent, with the bright primary colors looking clear and clean. The print is very clean as well, and overall the image looks sharp and distinct.

Audio

Three soundtracks are available for Caillou's Holiday Movie, each in Dolby 2.0: the default English, the original French, and a Spanish track. The DVD handles the different language tracks very well. The language can be changed through the options menu or on the fly, and changing the language choice converts all the menus to that language as well. Overall, I was pleased with the English voice acting, although the original French narrator is a bit better (the English narrator has a slightly condescending tone).

The sound quality is excellent in all three language tracks. The dialogue is always very clear and distinct, and the music is bright and clear. Parents will be pleased to know that the music and the songs are very cute and catchy: even if your kids want to play the DVD repeatedly, you won't get sick of the music. (In fact, you may find yourself humming it at odd moments...)

Extras

A few special features are included here, evidently designed for the young viewer rather than his parents. The songs "8 Days to Go" and "Caillou's Christmas Song" can be selected to play individually; the accompanying visuals from the movie play as well.

Two games are included: "find the different object" and "memory." An animated Caillou gives the directions and explains the answers. A short animated "interview" with Caillou is also included; it does a great job of introducing the idea of an interview to young viewers, and is fun to watch.

An extended trailer for upcoming DVDs of the Tom and Jerry cartoons is also included.

Final thoughts

At an hour and 15 minutes, Caillou's Holiday Movie can be watched either in one sitting or in several segments, depending on the attention span of the kids in the audience. The one drawback from an adult point of view is the lack of a stronger storyline: the basic premise of "Caillou's experiences at Christmas time" will undoubtedly interest four- and five-year-olds more than their parents. Even so, it's still fun to watch: the animated characters are extremely charming, the story's message is positive, and the music is cute and catchy. Parents should consider this DVD to be highly recommended.